TPT Seller's Challenge Week #3 Complete Woohoo!!!

Finally, I finished my challenge for week 3!! I must say thank you to all the wonderful people out there that have been so helpful and kind. I am blown away by the support!! 

I am super excited to share my project with you from the TPT Seller's Week 3 Challenge! Thank you Sparkling in Second, Third in Hollywood, Teach Create Motivate,  and Preppy Zesty Teacherista.

This challenge was...

After deciding on what to do, creating it, and swapping it with some great teachers for feedback...It is finally finished!

Since I teach second grade I thought it would be great to have a little review of nouns for the beginning of the year. It would be great to use in first grade as an introduction to nouns. This unit has 6 hands on literacy centers that cover what is a noun, common and proper nouns, singular and plural, and a few interactive notebook pages. 

Do your kids love task cards. My kids do! This unit has 4 sets of task cards and 2 sets of Noun-O! and Plural-O! (a connect 4 game). 

Below is Noun- O! Students have to get 4 in a row to wi! We have played this many times in our classroom and they love it!

 

 Here is a preview of the entire unit!

This product can be found at my store for the next 2 days on sale!! I would love to give away a few copies as well!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy 4th and Magic Mike XXL Review!!!

Happy Fourth! I hope everyone is out having an amazing day with family and friends! I am waiting for hubby to finish golf and then we will enjoy the rest of the day together.

So I am going to be honest with you all right now. I saw the first Magic Mike movie when it came out with a group of girlfriends a few years back. We had dinner and cocktails and then headed off to see the smoking hot half naked dudes do their thing. The movie theater was packed with a bunch of screaming woman  admiring the beautiful beasts on the screen. Not the greatest movie, but let's be real...we didn't see it for the amazing plot or academy award winning performances! Well, if hottest, gyrating, six-pack abs was a category it might be a different story.

Now fast forward to Summer 2015...let's say yesterday. Picture this...lunch with a best girl friend, a few cocktails, and then an afternoon matinee of...

Ok, have you picked your jaw off of the floor?? I must confess that if Channing knocked at my door or pulled my up out of a crowd to be his pole or prop to do his stripping...this girl would be so ok with it. I had to laugh because when I told my hubby I was going he was like...why?  I laughed and said really?? Did you see the previews of their abs? Uh, hot men dancing on a screen...no brainer!!!

Anyway, I am not going to give you a play by play of the movie because I do not want to spoil it for all you ladies. But...I will say this...I thought it was better than the first one. A few new characters, no depressing drug scenes, lots of laughs, great dancing, good music, and just a fun make you laugh movie to see with a bestie or a group of girls.

Yep, this was a scene from the movie!! Hot, hot, hot!!  

And how many of you watch Kelly and Michael in the morning. Well, let's just say I am not sure if I can look at Michael Strahan in the same way anymore..LOL! His part was hysterical!! He did a great job!!

So if you need something to do today or the rest of the weekend...check out your local movie listing and put a little "Magic" into your life!!!

July Currently

Wow! It is already July 2nd! Summer needs to sloooooooow down! I am going to ignore the fact that Target already had school supplies out for the new school year! I love you Target, but that is so not nice!! I  am linking up with Farley for the July Currently!

Listening: It is my morning routine! I get up, make myself a cup of coffee, and enjoy a little bit of the Today show before I head out to my workout class!

Loving: I live in California and we are in a major drought. We have been having some crazy hot weather. I am one who loves when the temperature is in the mid 80's, but we have had way too many days of super hot weather. The past 2 days were 105 and higher...WAY TOO HOT!! Today we are back in the nineties and there is a breeze!

Thinking: I am loving the TPT Seller's Challenge, but I need to finish this week's challenge. I have hit a creative slump! There are so many talented teachers out there!!!

Wanting: Summer is the time when this wife is supposed to get the household organized...according to the hubby. This is where I need an "Organization Fairy" to come in and do it for me. I have about 10 baskets of books in the garage from last summer that I need to organize and return to my classroom. I redid my classroom library last year and these just didn't get done!!! UUGHH!!

Needing: I am going to San Antonio for a little fun with my niece and mom next week. I know it is going to be hot and HUMID.  I am not one for humidity so I need to get me a few more shorts and tank tops to stay cool! 

ALL STAR: I love to make chocolate chip cookies! I have been told that I  make a really good one too! I freeze my dough and fresh bake it when I am going to bring them somewhere. I am known to bake cookies at 6 in the morning to surprise my students or my staff!!

Enjoy your day! Remember to link up!!

Weekend Warriors: 3-2-1 Teacher Bio

Happy Saturday everyone! I am linking up with the Weekend Warriors for their 3-2-1 Teacher Bio.

1)  I can not believe this year will be my 21st year teaching! I have taught 2 years of 6th grade, 3 years of 4th, 1 year of 1st, and I will begin my 15th year in second grade. Time sure does fly by so fast! 

2) Yes, I do wear high heels to work everyday! I am only 5 foot 3 so I love that I can be a little taller with a little help from my friends. I work at a small school so I am known for my shoes!! To be quite honest I wore flats one time and couldn't see over my cart in Costco. I will wear flip flops during the summer though!

3) I am always learning. I try to keep current on what is going on in the teaching profession. I am willing to try whatever. I still get nervous every school year for the first day of school. I truly feel that the day I stop learning, being nervous, or feel that I have mastered everything is the day I am done being a teacher. 

 1) Yes, I love shoes. My husband thinks I have too many, but seriously...can you ever really have enough? I am waiting for a pair of wedges to arrive this week!

2) I am a very loud person. It drives my hubby crazy. He always says "Can't you whisper?". I am pretty outgoing and will talk to almost anyone too. Sometimes this can be perceived as being super confident, but really I am actually super sensitive. I take things to heart and when I care about people I am very loyal.

I really do not think this needs explaining! : )  I just hope that this one comes true very soon!

Happy weekend! Come join the linky so we can get to know each other!

TPT SELLERS CHALLENGE- WEEK 2

I am finally posting my second challenge to the TPT Sellers Challenge hosted by the following 4 fabulous ladies:

This week's challenge was Dare to Dream!

I have been thinking about this all week. This was a lot more challenging then the first week. I will begin my 21st year of teaching and life is pretty good. I started TPT a few years ago just as a personal goal. I found it through the many countless hours of blog stalking!! :) I saw many great units on TPT. I started realizing that..." Hey I did that way back when, but look how well this seller put it all together and is sharing it with others!" I wanted to do the same. I set a goal that I would create a product and get it uploaded. So here I am a few years later. I still blog and create, but not consistently.  This challenge is forcing me to take more risks and put myself out there. With that said here are my dreams.

GROW MY BLOG AND TPT STORE:  I blog and create, but not consistently. I would love to have way more products on TPT, be the blog/IG with thousands of followers, and meet many more fellow teachers. I am super excited that with this challenge I have gained more followers. I would love to have 500 Followers on TPT, FB, and IG in the next year!

INSPIRE OTHERS: I want to be an inspiration to others. I want to share what I do in the classroom. I want others to be excited when I write a new blog post or ask me questions about something I blogged about. This may sound silly, but I love when my favorite bloggers share something really cool and then respond back to me because I have left a comment. I want to do the same for others.

GUILT FREE SHOPPING: I love to shop! I especially love shoes. I do not want to hear my hubby's voice inside my head saying..."Do you really need those shoes?" YES, I NEED THOSE SHOES!!!


SPOIL MY HUBBY: I have a great hubby who takes very good care of me. I would love to be able to take him on a trip or buy him something real nice without having to think about what it costs. I would love to say..."Don't worry I got this...all of this!!!!"

So there are my dreams! Join the linky and share your dreams too!!

Book Study: Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics Chapter 7

Ok, I am breaking the rules and doing a second blog post. I am back for chapter 7 of the Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics hosted by: 

So let's get started!!!

Chapter 7: Collaborating with Families, Community, and Principals

This was a great chapter! The entire focus was on discussing ideas for developing a collaborative community that understands and is able to support high-quality mathematics teaching and learning for every student. 

The author stresses the fact that it is very important to communicate your mathematic goals to parents at the beginning of every year stressing the fact that the instruction their child receives might differ from what they experienced in their own schooling. 

One great suggestion was a Family Math Night. This is something that I have always wanted to do. After reading this chapter, I just might plan one this year. They gave several examples of types of activities to do for a Family Math Night so parents can see and experience mathematics through a problem solving approach.

I also loved how the authors explained how to address the role of the teacher. The teacher is an organizer (organizes a worthwhile mathematical task), facilitator (facilitates students interaction), and questioner (asks questions to help children make connections or to deepen their understanding). I must admit I will be sharing this with my parents come Back to School Night.

Have you ever had a parent question you about cooperative groups? I loved how the author showed the different ways for parents to see the value of cooperative groups. I might have to try number 3 just to break the ice at Back to School Night.

1. Include a feature in your parent newsletter.
2. Send home letters introducing mathematics units of study.
3. Do a cooperative learning mathematics activity at a family math night or a back-to-school event.
4. Invite parents to assist in a mathematics group assignment.

I know there is a big debate over the value of homework in the younger grades. I try to give 5-6 math problems a night for practice and also so parents can see what we are working on. I really enjoyed the recommendations the authors gave to think about when assigning homework to your students.

1. Mimic the three-phase lesson model. ( p.24-26)
2. Use as a distributed-content approach.
3. Promote an "ask-before-tell" approach.
4. Provide good questioning for parents.

We always stress to our families how important it is to support literacy by reading to and with their children at home. These authors made you see that it is just as important to support mathematics in the home too! There is a great letter on page 95 that would be great to share with parents. I just might have to type up my own version to send home.

I think the thing that is most important to remember when dealing with your students and their families is know who they are and be aware of their similarities and differences. All parents, regardless of their school experience,  just want their children to be successful. As educators, it is our jobs to be effective communicators with both students and their parents!!

I would love to hear any of your experiences with  Family Math Night! Don't forget to check out the other bloggers participating in our book study!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Ch. 5 and 6 Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics

I am back! A little late with this post, but ready to discuss chapter 5 and 6 of our book study Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics. If you missed any of the past chapter discussions just click on the photo below to take you to previous posts!!

Chapter 5: Planning, Teaching, and Assessing Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Children

I am going to have to be completely honest with you on this chapter...I struggled. I started reading, stopped, put the book down, checked my social media, reread what I already read, and then finally just sucked it up and finished the chapter. I couldn't figure out why I was having such difficulty with this chapter because I have enjoyed the book so far. It really has made me rethink and want to begin to restructure some areas of my math program in my classroom. Then it hit me...I realized that my current classroom is not very diverse so I was struggling with my own personal connections. Maybe it was the diet Coke, the chips and guac, or the bite sized Twix bar (yes, not very healthy choices, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow!) that snapped me out of it. The lightbulb finally went off...I still could use their suggestions in my own classroom with my own students.

The author shares from the NCTM Principles and Standards for School Mathematics,  "Excellence in mathematics education requires equity-high expectations and strong support for all students. Teaching for equity is much more than providing children with an equal opportunity to learn mathematics. Attention to language and culture, two interrelated and critical  considerations, is important in planning, teaching, and assessing children from diverse backgrounds. Children who are given instructional tasks that are well supported and thought provoking-rather than low-level tasks with short-term gains-can reach higher levels of mathematics proficiency".

I found this to be very powerful and something that I really want to incorporate as I plan for the upcoming year.

We all think mathematics is the universal language, however, the author gave examples of how this is not entirely true. Think of our basic 52-17 math problem. There are many ways this can be solved and explained.

I know I learned that I start in the one's place. I cannot take 7 away from 2 so I must go borrow a group of ten from the ten's place. Since I borrow a group of ten now I have 4 tens left and 12 ones. I then subtract 7 from 12 and get 5 ones. Now I move to the ten's place and subtract 1 from 4 to get 3 tens. My final answer is 35. The book gave some samples on how other countries solved this problem. Different and a bit odd to me, but still had the same answer I had. Who is right? Who is wrong? Does it really matter? NO. Since I have been teaching second grade I have learned that there are many other ways to solve this problem. Some are easier and others are more time consuming, but all bring me to the same answer... just in a different way. There were a few where I remember thinking..."Why didn't I ever learn it this way?" So you have to ask yourself...Are you willing to accept all the different ways it is solved or just the way you are comfortable with? Furthermore, will you ask children to elaborate on how they did it or have the children show other children their way of thinking?

The author also stresses the importance of vocabulary in this chapter as well. It is important to teach all children the key math vocabulary terms. Picture dictionaries, vocabulary games, and interactive word walls that include pictures and translations are some great ways to incorporate math vocabulary.     It is also important to remember when designing problems to use visuals, simplify sentences, and eliminate confusing vocabulary.

One last thing...it is important for all of our students to have a safe and positive learning environment where they can take risks, show their own thinking, and feel like their input is accepted and valued.

Chapter 6: Planning, Teaching, and Assessing Children with Exceptionalities

This chapter focused on dealing with Response to Intervention(RTI), students with learning disabilities, children with moderate or severe disabilities, and children who are mathematically gifted.

The author gave many examples of implementing interventions:

Explicit Strategy Instruction
Concrete, Semi-Conrete, Abstract (CSA)
Peer-Assisted Learning
Think Alouds

There were some great reminders to think about when dealing with the mathematically gifted.

DO'S (when appropriate):

Accelerate
Enrich
Increase Sophistication
Use novelty

DON'TS (Try not to just...):

Assign more of the same work
Give free time to early finishers
Assign gifted learners to help struggling learners
Provide gifted pull-out programs
Offer independent enrichment on the computer

A lot to take in and think about. Remember to check out the other bloggers who are participating and here what they have to say! Have a great Wednesday!

An InLinkz Link-up